ValleyCats hit the road on a 4-game winning streak

Tri-City faces eight-game stretch, returns on July 4

Jess Koehle, Times Union

By Jess Koehler

Published 11:54 pm, Tuesday, June 24, 2014

ValleyCat Bobby Boyd lays down a sacrifice bunt during their baseball game against the Vermont Lake Monsters at Joe Bruno Stadium on Tuesday June 14, 2014 in Troy, N.Y. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union)

With an eight-game road trip ahead of them, the Tri-City ValleyCats hoped to end their final homestand for more than a week on a high note when they hosted Vermont on Tuesday.

On an RBI fielder's choice by J.D. Davis with one out in the 11th inning, Tri-City pushed its winning streak to four games, 5-4, in front of a crowd of 4,392 at Bruno Stadium.

"I felt comfortable in that last at-bat," Davis said. "I knew (Vermont reliever Jonnie Massad) was pitching me away, pitching me off-speed and everything, but I just wanted to square the ball up."

The win was Tri-City's third walk-off of the season, already matching their total from 2013.

"Good effort by everybody," ValleyCats manager Ed Romero said. "Once again, a tough game (Tuesday). Good pitching from both sides. We stayed patient and took advantage of mistakes, and that's what winning teams do."

Vermont third baseman Yairo Munoz led off the 10th with a single off of Tri-City reliever Ryan Thompson. Right-hander Chris Munnelly entered in relief of Thompson with a runner on second and two outs, and fielded a ground ball hit by Joe Bennie to end the top half of the inning.

Vermont had two runners on with two outs in the 11th, but Munnelly recorded his third strikeout of the inning to end the threat.

"(Munnelly) was awesome," Davis said. "He was spotting up, mixing up pitches. He did great. He kept us in the game especially with the pressure on."

Romero said, "Munnelly has experience and he knows how to pitch. That's exactly what he did."

Bobby Boyd, who made his professional debut for the 'Cats, singled with one out in the 11th. Boyd swiped second base and moved over to third on a single by Marc Wik. A.J. Reed was intentionally walked to fill the bases with one out before Davis grounded into the decisive force out, plating Boyd.

Reed broke a scoreless tie in the third inning when he hit a double off the wall in right-center, plating Wik with two outs, but Vermont scored twice in the fifth inning as Dayton Alexander doubled home Gabriel Santana to level the game, and Munoz put the Lake Monsters in front, 2-1, with a two-out single.

Hyde doubled in the sixth inning to give the hosts a 3-2 advantage, and Davis pushed Tri-City's lead to 4-2 in the seventh when he hit a solo home run that just cleared the foul pole in left field.

Vermont pulled even, 4-4, in the eighth on a two-run single by Bennie.

"It's a big momentum swing," Davis said. "We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. This boosts our confidence. It'll be a success if we go .500 on the road."